The Hindu : Sport / Football : South Africa bids farewell to WC

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South Africa bids farewell to WC

JOHANNESBURG: South Africa begins its long send-off to the World Cup with a celebration parade on Friday through the streets of Soweto, two days ahead of the final clash between the Netherlands and Spain.

The 3-km procession of brightly coloured floats is another expression of the “new” South Africa that the country has projected during the four-week tournament.

Beginning at a modern shopping mall and ending in a plaza flanked by a posh hotel, the parade's floats tell the history of the township that was a hotbed of resistance to the white-minority apartheid regime.

The procession “will celebrate the past, present and future of Soweto and at the same time will encompass South Africa's historical legacy,” said organiser Mandla Hlatshwayo.

The showpiece Soccer City stadium, venue for Sunday's final, lies between Soweto and downtown Johannesburg, highlighting the city's steady transformation 16 years after the first all-race elections.

Major hotel chains reported that they were fully booked throughout Gauteng, the province that includes Johannesburg and the nearby capital Pretoria. FIFA says tickets to the match are sold out, while global television audience is expected to reach 500 million viewers.

Shakira to rock

Colombian pop star Shakira will headline the closing ceremony ahead of the match, where 15 heads of State are expected to attend — most controversially Zimbabwe's President Robert Mugabe, who is the target of a European and US travel ban. South Africa's biggest Hollywood star Charlize Theron has reportedly arrived home for the final along with Morgan Freeman, who played Nelson Mandela in last year's film “ Invictus“.

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